It is a common practice, in the automotive electric parts field and in the networking infrastructure field, to optimize cable quality by tandem wire drawing and extrusion. For example, local area network (LAN) cables are drawn to size and extruded in tandem with insulation. Then, in the automotive parts field, it is also common to package insulated wire in cardboard barrels or drums for subsequent payout into automotive wire harness assembly equipment.
The amount of wire that can be packaged in the barrel depends on the outside diameter of the wire and the dimensions of the barrel. Typical amounts range from a minimum length of 30,000 ft to a maximum of 120,000 ft. Since a common harness length is anywhere from 3 ft to 20 ft, many harnesses can be made from a single barrel of wire.
Typically, wire insulation material such a plastic is extruded to form the outer layer of the insulated wire. During this process, application of the insulation material to the surface of the wire can fail and defects in the insulation can occur. With such defects, an improperly insulated wire is likely to fail diameter, spark, and other tests for defects. Hence, it is important to isolate these defects by, among other things, removing the damaged sections of the insulated wire. It is most advantageous to remove these damaged wire sections prior to feeding the insulated wire into the harness assembly equipment.
The present practice of removing the defective insulated wire sections involves intervention by the machine operator. Human intervention in the fast speed, mechanized wire insulation process for the purpose of removing defective sections is difficult and not completely effective. Clearly, manual operation cannot address all the various situations that may occur during routine operation of the insulating and coiling process. One such difficult situation is the occurrence of multiple faults in quick succession.
In view of the foregoing, automation of the removal process promises to be a more effective approach to extricating the defective wire sections. Accordingly, there is a need to more fully automate the wire insulation process, particularly as it relates to the scrap wire removal process.